Knee breeches



0a. 12 ,1 ze. 1,603,046

S. GALLINA KNEE BREECHES Filed Oct. 8, 1924 ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 12, 1926.

UNI-TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SIGISMONDO GALLINA, or nonoxnn, NEW JERSEY.

KNEE BREECHES.

Application filed October 8,.1924. Serial No. 742,326.

of the legs by means of laces interlaced through eyelets but the attachment of such devices is not only unreliable but the opening and closing of the bottom of the legs upon the wearer consume more time than is necessarywith the present. device. Other means of attachment, such as but- IO tons, hooks and e es, and the like, have been heretofore provi ed but these all have their disadvantages. With the present device. the buttons of the legs may be closed or'opened by simply moving a sliding member alon the seam of the garment so that the opening and closin operations are almost instantaneous' an by the wearer without even having to look at the device, so that the latter may be op- 80 erated in the dark if desired. I have provided a novel arrangement of elastic and pleat for allowing for variations in leg sizes as the attachment means itselfis not susceptible to adjustment. I 36 In the drawing forming part of this application,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a pair of riding breeches having my invention applied thereto,

Figure 2 is an elevation on an enlarged scale of the lower end. of one of the legs looking at the side thereof, and

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken. on the line 33 of Figure 2.

In the drawing I have shown a pair of ridingbreeches 1 having a waist band 2 and hip portion 3 below which are the legs 4. The latter are adapted to extend below the knee and at the lower ends they are provided with the improved closing means.

Both legs of the garment are provided with similar closing devicesso that thesame de-.

scri tion will apply to both. There is generally a seam 5 extending down the side of the garment and with garments of the character herein set forth this seam generally wearer.

may be easily performed with the hooks 12 of the members 11.

ends at the bottom at about the point 6 which will come just below the knee of the From this point the leg is pro? vided with a side opening 7 or placket which extends down to the bottom end of the leg. The purpose of this side opening orplacket, as is well known, is to permit the bottom of the leg to open or expand in order to allow the wearer to pass his or her shoe through the leg of the garment, and especially through the narrow, lower-end of the garment leg. In garments of the types referred to, it is desirable to close-this side opening or placket to make the lower end of the garment leg fit snugly tothe leg just below. the knee.

In the drawing I have shown a closing device which in itself is not new in the pres ent case as it is thecombination which forms the subject of the present invention. The placket closing device comprises in part a strip or tape 8 secured, preferably by a line of stitches 9 along one ofthe edges 10 g of the leg of the garment which forms one side of the placket. To this tape are fastened a row of metal members 11 having small interlocking hooks 12 all spaced equal distances apart throughout the length of the tape 8, which-is preferably the length of the side opening or placket. To the opposite edge 13 of the fabric defining the opposite side of the placket, there is attached, preferably b means of a line of stitches 14, another ban or tape 15 to which is permanently secured a row of metal members 16 which are spaced apart to correspond with the spacing of the several members 11. These members 16 are also provided with hooks 17 which are adapted to interlTock he tapes 8 and 15 and the rows of hooked members extend from the point 6-at the bottom of the seam 5 to the bottom end of the leg of the garment.

The opposite rows of hooked members are adapted to be locked and unlocked by means of a slider 18 which straddles the opposite rows of hooked members 11, 16 and which is adapted to be moved along the rows of hooked members. There is a pivoted finger piece 19- which may be grasped to 0perate the slider.

When the slider 18 is in its upper position, that is, at the top of the placket, the two rows of hooked members 11, 16 are unlocked or disengaged and the bottom of the garment leg may open or expand to allow the wearer to put his or her foot therethrough. When the garment has been put on by the wearer, the finger piece 19 is grasped and the slider is moved downwardly along the rows of hooked members and when this occurs the opposite rows of hooked members are drawn toward each other by the slider and the hooks 17 are caused t-o interlock with the hooks 12 so that the edges of the leg of the garment are held in closed position. The slider remains at the bottom of the leg 4 while the garment is being worn and it may be covered by the stocking, puttee or boot. Both plackets are closed in the manner just described. The edges of the garment are held closely together and are neater in ap- Eearance than where they are drawn together y laces. To open the plackets the sliders are simply moved upwardly and they serve to unlock the hooks 17 from the hooks 12 as the slider moves along the rows of hooked members; and this releases the edges of the garment. These opening and closing operations may be performed almost instantaneously. The type of fastener referred tov herein is furthershown and described in the U. S. patentto Judson No. 504,038 and No. 504,037 dated August 29th, 1893, and

No. 557,208 dated March 31st,1896.

The closing devices allow no adjustment of'the leg of the garment and I provide for this in the following manner. There is a strip 20 of elastic material or elastic webbing, which is stitched along one edge of the garment by a lineof stitches 21 Which is placed back away from the placket. The

I other edge of this elastic webbing is attached by the line of stitches l t-to the tape 15 and. to one of the edges 13 of the leg member 4. Between these lines of stitches 21, 14 or between the opposite edges of the elastic webbing 20 the material of the leg member 4 is made full to form a fold or plait 23. If the wearer should have a comparatively small leg the elastic Webbing 20 will not be stretched when the placket is closed but if the leg is relatively large in diameter, then when the placket is closed by the action of the slider and hooked members, the adjacent edges of the placket being drawn together will cause the webbing 20 to, be extended or drawn out any-extent necessary up to the limit permitted by the straightening out of the fabric in the plait 23. The elastic and plait, therefore, permit the bottom of the leg of the garment to be expanded when necessary and at the same time insure a snug fit of the lower end of the leg of the garment.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

A garment of the class described having leg members adapted to extend below the knees of the wearer, each leg member having a verticallyextending opening or placket at the lower end thereof, means for drawing the edges of the placket together, comprising a row of hooked members secured along the edges of the garment defining said placket, said hooked members of the two rows being adapted to be interlocked and to be disengaged, a slider movable along said rows of hooked members and adapted to cause said hooked members to be interlocked and to disengage, and an elastic member secured to one of the edges of the placket and secured to the leg member at a point spaced from said first place of attachment, said leg member having a loop or plait formed between the points of attachment of said elastic member when the latter is contracted.

Signed at the city, count and State of New York, this 20th day of eptember, 1924. A

SIGISMONDO GALLINA. 

